The most terrific week ever for President Trump

The week of Feb. 2 was perhaps the best week of Donald Trump’s presidency.

The week began with high hopes for Trump. The week before was a mess for the president as his impeachment trial raged on. Late in the week things began looking up as republicans fell in line and voted to block any witnesses from being called into the trial.

Monday began the first-in-the-nation caucuses in Iowa. It was the first time that voters got the opportunity to weigh in on the 2020 Presidential Election.

Monday was supposed to mark a new era for the Democratic Party as they had made several changes to the delegation process since 2016. Unfortunately for the democrats, Iowa was a complete disaster. It took nearly a week before all delegates were finally committed.

The lack of results angered many within the Democratic Party; some even called for the resignation of DNC Chairman Tom Perez. Not only did the situation lead to bad optics for the DNC and the Iowa State Democratic Party, the lack of results also impacted the presidential campaigns.

Both South-Bend Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Bernie Sander (I-VT) declared victory. The official results ultimately gave Mayor Pete 13 delegates (one more than Sen. Sanders) and a very slight lead in the popular vote.

The results of Iowa typically would give or take away momentum to candidates going into New Hampshire. This year that was not the case as results took nearly a week to be completed. Even after all delegates were distributed, results are still being questioned.

Sen. Sanders has even requested a partial recanvass to ensure the accuracy of the results. The failure by democrats to keep house in Iowa was awful for their media coverage.

Trump took to twitter multiple times to criticize his opposition party. He tweeted the next morning, “The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that. The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is ‘Trump.’”

Needless to say, Trump took complete advantage of the democrats’ blunder in Iowa.

The day after the Iowa Caucus, Trump delivered his second State of the Union speech. The speech was yet another win for the president. The speech highlighted a booming economy, low unemployment, and an attempt to reach out to the African-American community by honoring a veteran and giving a scholarship to a little girl.

The State of the Union did have a couple low points for the president. When Trump asked for a bill on his desk that would regulate pharmaceutical prices, many members of congress began to shout “3!” referring to HB 3; a bill that would have done exactly what he asked.

The highlight of the night came after the speech when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared to rip up a copy of Trump’s speech. Trump and republicans have since attacked her for her action.

They have pointed to the touching stories such as the one of Tuskegee Airmen Gen. Charles McGee that were in the speech that she allegedly tore up. Trump and republicans have called her actions disrespectful and uncalled for. Although the speech in of itself seemed to go well, Now This Politics reported that the Trump averaged a false claim/lie once every two minutes during his lengthy speech.

Leading up to the vote on impeachment, a Gallup poll was released that showed record high approval ratings. The poll showed the president reaching an approval rating of 49 percent. He has still yet to reach a 50 percent approval rating, but he came very close this week with this record high approval.

The day after the State of the Union brought what was perhaps the best news for Trump for the entire week, or maybe even his presidency. In a vote to acquit the president on his impeachment charges, all but one republican (Sen. Mitt Romney [R-UT]) voted to acquit the President.

The acquittal ended a months long impeachment inquiry/trial. It’s worth noting that many republican senators believed Trump acted inappropriately, some even admitted he abused his power, but they still voted to acquit him in hopes that he learned his lesson.

The acquittal was a big boost to Trump who had been fighting the democrats on impeachment for months.

The week was a complete wreck for the Democratic Party and a pleasant gift for Trump. The democrats are looking to pick back up their momentum as they begin the bulk of their primaries in the coming month.

J.J. is a Junior Political Science major and a Political Correspondent for The Chimes. J.J. served in the Capital University Student Government and has helped on different political campaigns. You can email him at jprice3@capital.edu.